Costin is relishing his second chance
It’s eight years since he made his Olympic debut in Sydney and if his grit and commitment got him through that particular race on what was probably the hottest day of the 2000 Games he would have to draw on those steely qualities just to survive what would happen to him four years later.
On the eve of the Athens Olympics he was returning from a training session at the training camp in Greece when he was involved in an horrific collision with a tanker.
He had to be cut free from the car which he had borrowed from Olympic race walking legend, Robert Korzeniowski, and awoke in hospital to the news that he might never walk again.
“I will be forever indebted to the Olympic Council’s medical officer, Dr Sean Gaine,” he said recalling how Dr Gaine had refused to allow the medics in Athens to insert a steel rod in his back. “If they had done that I don’t think I would not have competed again.
“One of the vertebrae in my back literally exploded and I was very fortunate it didn’t sever the spinal chord.
The OCI flew him back to Dublin by air ambulance and he underwent surgery at the Mater Hospital.
Then followed months of rehabilitation — his whole body was in a cast when he struggled for half a mile on crutches — and it took not just time and care but courage and commitment to get him on his feet again.
“I remember being able to take my first few steps and it was a joy,” he recalled. “But I still had a long way to go.”
He battled his way back, achieved the qualifying standard for the world championships and the Olympic Games in one fell swoop and while he failed to complete the course in Osaka last year he had a personal best of 3:53.30 for 50k.
“What happened to me in Greece is all in the past now and I don’t dwell on it any more. I am back at the Olympic Games.”
When they offered him the Olympic tattoo on his arm in Sydney he declined it saying that he would not consider himself worthy until he finished his competition.
And finish he did in searing heat. When he made it to the finish line he was offered a wheelchair but declined the offer, walked through the Mixed Zone and spent two hours on a drip. He got his Olympic tattoo.
It is hardly surprising that he will savour the atmosphere when he returns to the start line tomorrow morning and he will start the race with a whole new outlook on life.
For him it has been an eventful journey. While John Treacy was the first Olympian from the area, West Waterford has a big tradition in racewalking.
Olympic legend Robert Korzeniowski would have a huge influence on the young Costin and would, in fact, spend some time on the family farm in Ring.
He coached Costin for some time and continues to coach Robert Heffernan who finished eighth in the 20k race on Saturday.
While he has not competed over 50k this year he underscored his fitness with 1:25.59 for 20k in Cheboksary, and he finished third at the European Permit meeting at Royal Leamington Spa in 1:24.37.
While he was recuperating, young Colin Griffin from Ballinamore who finished seventh in the world youths championships in 1999 emerged from his shadow to establish himself as the leading 50k race walker in the country by setting a new national record at 3:51.32
To prepare for the Games, he moved to Saluzzo in Italy where he is coached by Sandro Damilano, who has coached athletes to 40 major championship medals including at Olympic Games and world championships. His mother, Patricia Griffin, is a former international distance runner and his father, Pádraig, is a former President of BLE.
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